PITTSBURGH -- Just three days ago, in the middle of the Stanley Cup final, Kris Letang was talking to his good friend Luc Bourdon.

They talked about his motorcycle. They talked about training together this summer. They did what best friends do.

But they didn't say goodbye.

On Thursday, Letang got a phone call informing him that his close friend had died in a motorcycle crash. The call came one day after Letang had been removed from the lineup of the Pittsburgh Penguins, affecting the defenceman deeply.

"He's someone I can always talk about my tough times (with)," said Letang, who won't dress in Game 4 for Pittsburgh.

"I can't still believe it because when you lose someone like that, you can't do much. And it's so tough for me. Like right now, he was my best friend."

Yesterday at practice, Letang tried to skate and said he had trouble pushing off. "It's like, I lost so much energy...We were supposed to go on vacation this summer and he was to come to Montreal all summer long to train. And he was a really funny guy. He was a guy who always stuck up for you and was always there for me."

Letang and Bourdon played two seasons of junior hockey for Val D'or of the Quebec Junior League. They also played twice for Team Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship.

"We won two gold medals together. We were playing together. We were roommates together. We share everything together."

Tonight, prior to Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, a moment of silence will be held at the Mellon Arena in honour of Bourdon, whose NHL career barely got started before the accident took his life.